The Kingston Whig-Standard
March 24, 2000
By Donna Spencer

Since Bryan Allen's return to the Oshawa Generals from the Vancouver Canucks, Oshawa has gone 2-0, including a big 5-4 win over the Barrie Colts.

Allen, of Glenburnie, isn't taking credit for those wins.

"I'm not going to put those kind of expectations on myself,'' he said from Oshawa on Wednesday. "I'm just going to try my best and do what I can do to help.''

The fourth overall draft pick of the Canucks in 1998 played only seven American Hockey League games this season and is still finding his game legs.

"It's been awhile even since I've played in Syracuse, so it's definitely different playing a game again, but it felt all right,'' said the defenceman. "I played [in Oshawa] three years, so I knew what to expect.''

Allen had surgery on his left shoulder and knee last fall and has spent the entire year in rehab. After two weeks with Syracuse, he waited two more weeks until the NHL trading deadline for the Canucks to decide what to do with him.

"I would have wanted to play there, but they are still in a playoff race right now, so it wasn't fair to myself or the other guys to put me into my first NHL game like that,'' said Allen.

The only way Allen, 19, can join Syracuse for the playoffs is to complete his year in junior first.

Allen says his focus is helping the Generals as far as they can go.

"It's hard to think beyond this team,'' he said. "That's all I'm concentrating on. I just want to win. You don't really think of a different scenario other than the one you are in right now.''

The six-foot-four blue-liner has only one more regular-season game left - against the Frontenacs in Kingston tonight - before the Generals start the playoffs against either Ottawa, Barrie or Belleville.

"I think we'll be underdogs just because of the way the standings are,'' said Allen, who thinks the Generals have some momentum with a three-game winning streak.

"From what I've seen, there's definitely some promise.''

The OHL regular season concludes tonight. The Barrie Colts can move past Ottawa and clinch the Eastern Conference's top seed by beating North Bay. Belleville, a point behind Barrie and Ottawa, is not out of the running either with a game left against Peterborough.



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